A few years ago I wrote on OSNews several articles (1,2) about workstations. After three years I had to stop, because there were no workstations left on the market, they became legacy and were not sold any more. Now with the rise of mobile devices with touchscreen and wireless network connectivity virtually everywhere, the question becomes valid, what will happen with the desktop computers, are they still needed, or will they follow the workstations on their way to computer museums?

"How many people use computers to do real work? I've noticed that most people who have computers just mess around on facebook and play flash games. Given a few years they might not be buying a desktop. Then it will get harder for you to buy a desktop too.

Practically every single white-collar worker? "

And I am one of them since many years ago. What do we do mostly at office?
- email > could be done perfectly with a service like gmail for instance
- archiving files > box.net
- design and/or use some spreadsheets > I find editgrid or zoho almost as useful as the 'standard spreadsheet' most often used in offices...
- perhaps every month or quarter preparing a presentation? > google docs would be enough for us here at work
- word processing > see above for all kinds of solutions
...

"[q]How many people use computers to do real work? I've noticed that most people who have computers just mess around on facebook and play flash games. Given a few years they might not be buying a desktop. Then it will get harder for you to buy a desktop too.

Practically every single white-collar worker? "

And I am one of them since many years ago. What do we do mostly at office?
- email > could be done perfectly with a service like gmail for instance
- archiving files > box.net
- design and/or use some spreadsheets > I find editgrid or zoho almost as useful as the 'standard spreadsheet' most often used in offices...
- perhaps every month or quarter preparing a presentation? > google docs would be enough for us here at work
- word processing > see above for all kinds of solutions
... [/q]

Perhaps you are so kind to help me find online services that will allow me to: use Visual Studio, Photoshop and play Crysis and Dragon Age: Origins. And some ocasional 3D Max rendering and encoding HD movies.

Perhaps you are so kind to help me find online services that will allow me to: use Visual Studio, Photoshop and play Crysis and Dragon Age: Origins. And some ocasional 3D Max rendering and encoding HD movies.

Yup, like I'd rather do all that on a 10 inch or smaller display without a real keyboard/mouse, instead of on my dual 20-something inch monitor setup.